What they found out through Wikileaks was even too much for the Tunisian Army, the levels of corruption and wealth-plundering as Tunisians.struggled daily with sky-high unemployment and rising food prices. This is amazing. For once the army, accustomed to simply following orders, refused to turn its guns on the people, forcing the dictator to flee.

"The national army did not betray the people and the nation," said one of the many with new pride for the military, theatre critic Ahmed El Hadek El Orf. "And it is the first time that I have used the word 'national' for the army,"

The lifting of the cover over the way governments do business and conduct wars is resulting, said an NPR commentator I heard last night, in a "Jasmine Revolution" which could serve as a model across the Arab world, which rejects both corrupt ruling regimes and Al Qaeda. The Tunesian commentator said "unisians are very educated and are not about to transfer their new-found freedom to Islamic fundamentalists, in utterly remarkable Diane Rehms interview. It would be wrong to say that Tunisians were not aware of the corruption long before Wikileaks, but apparently heavy-handed action by the regime in trying to block the information played a role in sparking the protests. Observers say the Wikileaks cables were not the cause, but a catalyst, confirming beyond the shadow of a doubt what Tunisians already know.

Breaking: There is hope.

Others spoke of a warm relationship between the protesters and military during the height of the tensions, when violent street riots erupted with cars and tyres set alight, buildings sacked, police opening fire with tear gas and ammunition.

"I saw fraternisation between the people and the army, which did not fire on them," said Abdel Wahab Maalouch, a lawmaker for the opposition Unionist Democratic Union.

A resident of the Ariana suburb in the north of the capital said: "Women prepared a big couscous for the soldiers who came to our area, and the youngsters offered them beer, but the soldiers said they were not allowed to drink on duty."

Meanwhile the young man accused of leaking the documents and diplomatic cables sits in Quantico Marine base under tortuous isolation, designed to break his mind, already thoroughly blogged in these pages. Bradley Manning is in a 6ftx 12ft cell, not allowed to do a push up or a sit up (if he begins he is forced to stop,) 23 out of 24 hours a day. The military says he is allowed to exercise in a weight room but visitors have flatly contradicted this, reporting that, at last update, Bradley was still only allowed to walk (not run) figures eights in a room for an hour, in shackles. Manning has been convicted of nothing and is still presumed innocent.

The day after over 100 supporters held a protest action outside the gates of Quantico, he was placed on a punitive suicide watch (which requires him to be stripped to boxer shorts and held in 24 hour confinement) for two days. Suspicions are that Bradley was being punished for the protest.

Other interesting tidbits revealed by the documents allegedly leaked by Manning are that the Pentagon has been lying about the Taliban not having surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) when in fact it does, which have already shot American helicopters out of the sky over Afghanistan. As well, an Apache gunship video allegedly leaked by Manning revealed a bona fide war crime, killing wounded and those attempting to evacuate them.

As Commander in Chief this is all Obama's call. he can issue a direct order to take Manning off the punitive "prevention of injury" watch which requires guards to wake him from his sleep if he turns so they cannot see his face, prohibits all personal items such as photos of loved ones, and denies him a clock, daylight, or any sense of the passing of time, for eight months now. His visitors report that Manning's physical appearance and behavior has deteriorated markedly, and that he now seems to have trouble focusing.

Yet even under these conditions, Bradley sent the following message to his supporters last Christmas:

I greatly appreciate everyone’s support and well wishes during this time. I am also thankful for everything that has been done to aid in my defense. I ask that everyone takes the time to remember those who are separated from their loved ones at this time due to deployment and important missions. Specifically, I am thinking of those that I deployed with and have not seen for the last seven months, and of the staff here at the Quantico Confinement Facility who will be spending their Christmas without their family.

The Army wouldn't shoot. In a country like Tunisia, of all places. We shall overcome someday.

White House:Comments: 202-456-1111Switchboard: 202-456-1414 The Quantico commandant's name is General James F. Amos

The cable released by Wikileaks evidently has little relation to the large or massive protest demonstrations in Tunisia, and the event evidently also is mis-generalized in other ways. Tunisian police might have woken up because of the Wikileaks-released cable, but I'm not sure that this is what has brought them to join Tunisian protesters. The economic conditions were so bad that diplomatic cables like the now-published one would not be needed for the police or anyone else to know that conditions were very bad for much of the population. And when protests become as relatively large as the ones that've been occuring in that country, there are bound to be members of law forces that side with the population. But, maybe the police joining protesters were moved to do this because of the diplomatic cable; maybe they were so dumb that the publication of this cable was needed to wake them up. I don't think it's the reason, but maybe it is; maybe they are that dumb, without being so dumb that nothing can wake them up.

However, the population clearly did not need the diplomatic cable to form the large and strong protests that have been going on and which apparently are continuing. The cable might have helped to move dissatisfied Tunisians to join in large and strong protest, but such protest was evidently bound to happen in short time; because of the very bad conditions for very many Tunisians anyway. Learn about the large and strong protests in European countries over the past six months or more and which occurred because of strong austerity measures the large and rich central banks, so financial elites, have been trying to force governments to implement or apply. The strong and large, national-scale protests had nothing to do with anything released by Wikileaks.

Starve enough people and you'll get revolt. And there will be sympathetic law enforcement people. Some can be sympathetic purely out of honesty and sympathizing with others, but they also have families, relatives, and friends who aren't in government employment or employed by the rich and who will suffer because of the doings of the rich and corrupt, and spineless, politicians.

Attributing credit to the cable-release by Wikileaks for what's going on in Tunisia may be premature; it may be just another western generalization, recounting reality as the West sees or pretends to see it.

"Tunisia and the IMF's Diktats: How Macro-Economic Policy Triggers Worldwide Poverty and Unemployment"

The upheaval in Tunisia is certainly worthy of all the headlines, media commentary and official statements it has generated. But many of these reactions contain generalizations that hype expectations, worsen an already terrible situation and provoke misguided policies. Indeed, the current political storm, dubbed both the "Youth Intifada" and the "Jasmine Revolution", has inspired many interpretations. Some commentators wished to see the popular uprising as a prelude to an essentially anti-Arab regimes phenomenon that will strike elsewhere as well, while others placed it within a non-Arab context, noting that popular uprisings are growing in countries that struggle with rising food prices. Even al-Qaeda had a take on the situation, trying to score points to find a place in the looming political void.

(snip)

True, both Tunisia and Egypt are Arab countries with many similarities, but expecting a repeat of a scenario that was uniquely Tunisian and implicitly suggesting that Western states serve as harbingers of democracy is illusory, to stay the least.

(snip)

There is no harm in expanding a popular experience to understand the world at large and its conflicts. But in the case of Tunisia, it seems that the country is largely understood within a multilayer of contexts, thus becoming devoid of any political, cultural or socio-economic uniqueness. Understanding Tunisia as just another "Arab regime", another possible podium for al-Qaeda’s violence, is convenient but also unhelpful to any cohesive understanding of the situation there and the events that are likely to follow.

- Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com.

In the wake of the ouster of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, we speak with University of Michigan History Professor Juan Cole. "This is the first popular revolution since 1979," Cole says. "This revolution so far has been spearheaded by labor movements, by internet activists, by rural workers. It’s a populist revolution, and not particularly dominated in any way by Islamic themes, it seems to be a largely secular development."

Tunisia has announced an interim national unity government days after a popular revolt ousted the president from power in the first Middle East revolution in a generation. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday after a month of unprecedented protests gripped the country. Thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against unemployment, high food prices, corruption and government repression. At least 80 people were killed in a crackdown by government security forces. We go to the capital city Tunis to speak with opposition activist, Fares Mabrouk.

This ol' from North Cackilacki sees "Zio-Leaks" taking credit for being the catalyst in Tunisia's populist uprising as nonsensical as the Neo-Cons claiming that electing Ronald Reagan caused the fall of the Soviet Union. . . ;-)

Now, another "dot" that has just come on my radar is this article in the Washington Post from February 24, 2007 . . . by none other than Mr. "Cognitive Dissonance" himself, Cass R. Sunstein . . . ;-)

(clipped headline and article from Prison Planet January 2010)
"Obama Information Czar Outlined Plan For Government To Infiltrate Conspiracy Group - Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, Obama’s appointee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, outlined a plan for the government to infiltrate conspiracy groups in order to undermine them via postings on chat rooms and social networks, as well as real meetings, according to a recently uncovered article Sunstein wrote for the Journal of Political Philosophy."

Well, looky looky what good ol' Zionist Cass "9-11 Truth Groups Must Be Infiltrated" Sunstein wrote about way, way back in 2007, kidz . . . ;-)

(clipped headline and article from Washington Post 2007)
"A Brave New Wikiworld - In the past year, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that 'anyone can edit,' has been cited four times as often as the Encyclopedia Britannica . . .Wikileaks.org, founded by dissidents in China and other nations, plans to post secret government documents and to protect them from censorship with coded software."

Note: I do not agree with this article on many points, but it did bring this Sunstein-Assange connection to my attention.

(clipped headline and article from The Intel Hub)
"Wikileaks Is The 'Cognitive Infiltration' Operation Demanded by Cass Sunstein - Awareness is growing around the world that the Wikileaks-Julian Assange theater of the absurd is radically inauthentic – a psyop. . .

. . .But now, NSC, State, and CIA believe that the color revolution has a new lease on life, thanks to their estimate that the United States, because of Wikileaks and Assange, has captured the imagination of a new generation of young nihilists across the globe who are described as the post-9/11 generation, estranged from governments and opposition parties, and thus ready to follow Langley’s peroxide Pied Piper."

What does our Military say about Assange and Wikileaks? Men and women who understand modern asymmetrical warfare and Game Theory warfare modeling?

(clipped article from Veterans Today)
"GORDON DUFF: ELVIS, BIN LADEN AND ASSANGE (VIDEO)- TWO HEADS OF THE SAME COIN, 'ELVIS BIN LADEN' AND 'WIKI-ISRAEL' . . . Elvis bin Laden and Julian Assange of Wikileaks have one very major thing in common, both are very 'sensitive' to the needs and feelings of Israel."

What most of us may have under estimated is exactly what these World Zionists mean when they say, "Securing The Realm" . . . What if it isn't just Israel and Palestine, kidz? . . .

. . . and what if it isn't just the lands "from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the river Euphrates" as described in Genesis 15:18? . . .

. . . what if it's that same ol' tired "World Domination" dogma that we heard from the Bolsheviks like Trotsky, Lenin, and Stalin. . . and are still hearing from those messianic genocidal racists at Chabad Lubavitch as well as from those "save the planet" genocidal maniacs known as the U.N. Agenda 21 crowd.

We older kidz know that creating "nihilistic youth" has always been the corner stone of this materialist Marxist goal.

How could you make an entire WORLD of young people born full of life, hope, joy, exuberance, and love give into the pessimism and cynicism of Marxist nihilism???

Oh, gee, I don't know . . .

Maybe totally age inappropriate "education/conditioning" of THE HOLOCAUST(TM) starting in kindergarten in EVERY country in the world to traumatize and guilt trip entire generations and populations???

Maybe a media blitz of total bullshit science called "Man Made Global Warming" . . . to teach children that the world is going to end and IT IS ALL YOUR PARENTS' FAULT!!!???

Maybe watching their parents slave away their entire lives only to end up with nothing because they fell for the Ponzi schemes of the Banksters with their IRS and Fiat Currencies numbers rackets???

Maybe watching the unfairness of a completely Un-Constitutional WAR ON DRUGS that turns otherwise law abiding citizens into CRIMINALS . . . and turns children away from believing in The Rule of Law???

Maybe watching the 9-11 TRUTH MOVEMENT being shot down and illegal wars being waged by the folks in charge would turn a child away from believing in REASON and the JUSTICE of DUE PROCESS???

WE THE PEOPLE are waking up . . . that GREAT Slumbering Giant that is slow to anger . . .

Perhaps our "Special Friends" should plug the wisdom of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto into their Game Theory models:

"A military man can scarcely pride himself on having 'smitten a sleeping enemy'; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack."
- Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (9 January 1942)

And I don't think that coming "REVOLUTION" by WE THE PEOPLE of the U.S. will be credited to Wikileaks any more than this REVOLUTION by WE THE PEOPLE of Tunisia . . .

"WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS NOW!!!"
- Frederick C. Blackburn to the U.S. Libertarian Party 11Sept02

"You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We'd all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We'd all want to change the world"
- "Revolution" by The Beatles

Informed Activist

Speaking Events

Buy Books

Get Gear

The log-in box below is only for bloggers. Nobody else will be able to log in because we have not figured out how to stop voluminous spam ruining the site. If you would like us to have the resources to figure that out please donate. If you would like to receive occasional emails please sign up. If you would like to be a blogger here please send your resume.

User login

Username: *

Password: *

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.